Taraji P. Henson no longer has any idea how the final season of Empire is going to end, after the cast and crew were forced to shut down the set halfway through the penultimate episode.
The actress, who portrays Cookie Lyon on the TV drama, admits she knew exactly how the series would conclude until producers decided to work with what they had when the coronavirus forced them to close the set last month (March 2020).
“We were slated to do 20 episodes and… we were in the middle of 19th episode when everything got shut down,” she tells The Talk, “so I used to know how the show was going to end, but they’re gonna make some kinda movie magic in the editing room.
“They’re gonna take all the footage they have already and come up with some kind of finale and I know it’s gonna be incredibly brilliant.”
Taraji admits the worst thing about the shut down is she never got the chance to say a proper goodbye to the cast and crew.
“I bought them amazing Letterman sweaters – that’s my gift to them – because it was our senior year,” she adds, “and I’m really heartbroken and I love to play Santa… and I’m not there to do it.
“They’re gonna get them, but it’s not the way I wanted to give them out.”
